Archive for May, 2008

• 

  Surprise! Accountancy firm doesn’t like tax - by frog

  
  
  
  According to accounting firm Staples Rodway apparently today is tax freedom day;  that is if we imagined an average tax payer paying all her or his yearly tax bill first and not keeping any wages for her or himself, then today is the first day they he or she would stop paying tax. It’s a [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 11:29 am - 11 Comments
• 

  Who are the real polluters? - by frog

  
  
  
  I wouldn’t normally use this blog as a forum to promote the views of other parties’ politicians but I enjoyed this speech yesterday from Hone Harawira on the ridiculous Summary Offences (Tagging and Graffiti Vandalism) Amendment Bill.  …And that’s where this whole thing has gone haywire, because here we are, about to criminalise taggers for [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 11:17 am - 35 Comments
• 

  Frog’s Oil BEFU - by frog

  
  
  
  It has come to my attention that Treasury is not really interested in making an effort to forecast oil prices, despite the fact that the rest of New Zealand places huge faith in the Budget Economic Forecast Update, or BEFU. Historically I have been reluctant to make any forecasts, but today, I am going to [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 10:22 am - 40 Comments
• 

  We’ll cross that bridge once it’s burnt - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace’s blog points out the emergence of some new lobbyists; the Standover Group, New Zealand’s leading organisation in the fight against equitable social change. An influential union of muscular enterprises and entrepreneurs, the Standover Group is committed to furthering what is in the best interest of the most important section of New Zealand society – [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 8:52 am - 10 Comments
• 

  Ralston huffily tells us how to live - by frog

  
  
  
  Grumpy ol’ Bill Ralston is dispensing style advice from the Listener this week (full article on line in a couple of week’s time).  Now I know that Ralston fancies himself as a Mercedes-driving satirist, skewering the occasional humourless environmentalist, but look at this grouchy list of dislikes.  It seems to me that this week’s whine [...] read more
  May 20, 2008 2:17 pm - 16 Comments
• 

  Going open source in Whangarei - by frog

  
  
  
  After my minor run in with Internet Explorer this morning it was good to come across this article in the Whangarei Northern Advocate where Nandor was advocating the use of open source software. “When I spoke about open source software in Parliament, there were blank faces all round,” he said… He said the State Services [...] read more
  May 20, 2008 12:08 pm - 25 Comments
• 

  The Minister of Racing’s $9 million stake - by frog

  
  
  
  Today the Greens have oral question number 11 in the House and it will be coming from Sue Bradford to the Minister for Racing: Why is the Government putting 9 million dollars into high-stakes racing in this week’s budget, given that in 2006 the racing industry received a tax windfall worth approximately 32 million dollars [...] read more
  May 20, 2008 10:58 am - 15 Comments
• 

  Reflecting the zeitgeist - by frog

  
  
  
  The Herald’s editorial on MMP concludes: Twelve years ago, MMP was this country’s answer to a widely recognised need. A change so soon thereafter would be justified only if it were failing to produce governments that voters could recognise as an expression of their collective will. Broadly, it has passed that test, the ultimate test [...] read more
  May 20, 2008 9:03 am - 22 Comments
• 

  It’s not my fault - by frog

  
  
  
  The Prime Minister is in this morning’s Press telling Colin Espiner that the government’s woes are not its own doing: “It’s made a particularly tough challenge because you have an international economic slowdown, the fallout from the subprime crisis in the United States which has impacted on mortgage rates here without the Reserve Bank lifting [...] read more
  May 20, 2008 8:35 am - 6 Comments
• 

  Awhh, look at the polar bear - by frog

  
  
  
   This story from the Guardian deserves some attention drawn to it.  First off, it’s got a cute picture of a polar bear on it similar to the creative commons one I found below.  We don’t get polar bears in New Zealand.  The best we could probably really hope for would be albino takahe. And secondly [...] read more
  May 19, 2008 4:56 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  Away with the fairies - by frog

  
  
  
  Terry Dunleavy from the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition has just accused Jeanette Fitzsimons of being away with the fairies.  That’s a pretty big charge to level from someone so closely linked to the Heartland Institute and its list of make believe beings who deny climate change science.  Photo Credit: Dawn Perry read more
  May 19, 2008 9:12 am - 47 Comments
• 

  Balancing environmental and economic interests - by frog

  
  
  
  I have just listened to both David Parker and John Key on National Radio roll out the phrase ‘a balancing of environmental and economic interests’ when describing their race to backtrack on the Emissions Trading Scheme.  I thought The Inconvenient Truth and the Stern Report may have covered off this topic in popular culture, but [...] read more
  May 19, 2008 8:16 am - 31 Comments
• 

  What proportion of proportionality does Key want? - by frog

  
  
  
  So, John Key wants a referendum on MMP but still ‘personally favours some proportionality in the voting system.’ “I personally would be surprised if we went back to first past the post.” So what proportion of proportionality does he want? A few seats somewhere near the back of the chamber where diversity of view can [...] read more
  May 18, 2008 1:54 pm - 44 Comments
• 

  Fair redundancy - by frog

  
  
  
  The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) have just made an interesting proposal calling for government legislation to ensure redundancy payments for workers. I think the argument in favour of looking at this as part of Minister of Labour’s advisory group that has just been been set up to examine the adequacy of redundancy laws [...] read more
  May 18, 2008 1:41 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  Labour’s fairfax rout - by frog

  
  
  
  Today’s Fairfax Media poll brings the theory that Labour was turning its fortunes around into serious question. I enjoyed this quote from the Dominion Post: Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is in South Korea, could not be contacted for comment. I guess she hasn’t given it much thought , eh? The Greens are continuing along [...] read more
  May 17, 2008 7:31 am - 37 Comments
• 

  The Latest from the Mokihinui River - by frog

  
  
  
  The folks at Forest and Bird have put together a lovely video of a rafting trip down the Mokihinui River. I commend them and their efforts to save the Mokihinui from destruction. Should we damn the river and its environs by building a dam? Is building hydro power a reversible decision? I think everyone knows [...] read more
  May 16, 2008 4:40 pm - 27 Comments
• 

  The whole gamut – food subsidies, genetic engineering, oil prices and wind turbines - by frog

  
  
  
  Here’s a few Friday links. The US Congress has just approved a US$290 billion Farm Bill that gives lucrative subsidies to farmers and cuts international aid programmes. By diverting subsidies and benefits to powerful agricultural industries such as sugar, dairy, timber and salmon, authors of the bill ensured support from both Republicans and Democrats. Paul [...] read more
  May 16, 2008 8:38 am - 28 Comments
• 

  More valuable than heroin - by frog

  
  
  
  It seems some combination of the price falling out of the heroin market and rapidly rising world food prices means that Afghan farmer are converting from poppy growing to wheat. Poor old United States with its multi billion dollar ‘war on drugs’ – all it had to do the whole time was raise the price [...] read more
  May 16, 2008 8:07 am - 13 Comments
• 

  The farmers’ share - by frog

  
  
  
  Federated Farmers have just released an interesting report on the share of profit that farmers get from the retail price of food.  [T]he farm price for wheat in 2008 was 16 percent of the cost of a loaf of bread. Of a 20-slice loaf of bread the farm share accounted for around three slices. In [...] read more
  May 15, 2008 4:37 pm - 22 Comments
• 

  21,000 warmer state homes - by frog

  
  
  
  Housing New Zealand owns and maintains about 68,600 houses throughout New Zealand.  Many of these properties were built before 1978, prior to insulation becoming mandatory. Many of these homes have poor or no insulation and inefficient heating such as open fires. Housing New Zealand has been running a programme to progressively retrofit uninsulated state homes with [...] read more
  May 15, 2008 1:59 pm - 30 Comments